Calling all Assistants!

Inspired by a class I’m taking at Children’s Ministry University Online, I’ve recently started recruiting our children’s ministry kids to help out a bit more than usual. Here are some things I’ve learned.

Serving really boosts the self-confidence of kids. We recently had a big family event at church (parents were supposed to attend with the kids). One girl didn’t have any parents with her and she’s a bit of a handful, so I made her my assistant. At first, that just meant following me around, and she started to get a little unruly (duh!). So, I started giving her actual jobs – “could you bring the next group in please?” “Can you tell this group where they can go for help?” “Can you check to make sure there are still enough cookies out?” She thrived! She instantly became well mannered and VERY HELPFUL. Her whole demeanor changed to one that radiated self-confidence. Sure it took a little more work on my part, but it was worth it

Kids are capable of so much more than you might think. I’ve been really inspired by some of the stories in our textbooks, but also by some of the things our own ministry kids have stepped up to the plate to do. In our recent Christmas play, one of our older boys volunteered to be my assistant. Before I even had a chance to assign him a few jobs, he jumped right in based on what he saw me doing. He took over the CD player, rewinding and skipping forward based on what we needed to rehearse. He gathered up props and herded the kids onto the stage when their part was up. He took some real initiative and showed great leadership skills for a kid who was only nine!

I’m working to get the kids more involved in the ministry instead of being passive observers week after week. Right now, our preteen group is forming a puppet ministry and will be helping to teach the lessons for the younger kids over the next few months. I’ll let you know how it goes!

Comments

I’ve begun having our preteens help out during our Children’s Sermon in the worship service. Sometimes it’s as simple as passing something out to the younger kids, but I’ve even had them create a short skit to tell the day’s story. During Advent, when we talked about waiting, we added to the creche each week by ringing a bell and then waiting to see what would happen. Each week, one of our preteens would emerge from somewhere in the sanctuary to bring the next piece. It has made a huge difference in their overall level of engagement in worship.

YES! i totally agree! i worked in a day care for a few years a loooong time ago… and i’d take over the kindergarden-aged class in the summers. i’d always pick one of the *ahem* “active” boys to be my helper for the day… and you bet he’d be an angel for the entire day. kids like that almost always just need some love, attention, and a bit of responsibility. they almost always rise to the challenge!